Feminist Theology

Scholars have long debated whether Shiphrah and Puah, the feisty midwives of Exodus 2, were Hebrew or Egyptian. This article takes on the linguistic issue of their ethnicity and the etymology of their names anew, and, as a result, repositions them within Egyptian archaeological space. Situating them as Hebrew overseers of midwives within the central royal harem solves many of the problems of the biblical text while fully preserving its original ambiguity. A secondary objective is to recover yet more of their agency as midwives and their voice as tricksters within the context of both the Exodus account and Near Eastern culture in general. As a result, Shiphrah and Puah are redefined as powerful Israelite prophetesses, rather than lowly uneducated women, who boldly trick mighty Pharaoh with a double entendre retort. We finally propose a new linguistic reading of the denouement: their reward from God.

The hypothesis of this article is that Sarah was the equal of Abraham in establishing the faith of the Hebrew nation, and therefore, she was also a party to a constitutive covenant that was most likely concealed and omitted from the canonical version of the Bible. First, this article introduces research claims regarding Sarah’s central role as a formative leading matriarch. The article then goes on to examine the significance of the tradition of the covenant with Abraham in terms of cultural symbolism. And finally, the article tries to identify this symbolic significance in the Hebrew scriptures in a feminine context, assuming that ritual or ceremonial expressions may be associated with Sarah’s covenant as a founding matriarch in Israel’s religion and heritage.

When reading the Hebrew Bible, it is clear that the goddess Asherah is given a negative image. There are some fascinating probable misreadings, including one showing that she once might have had a more exalted role: in Deuteronomy 33:2 at the Lord’s right hand there was a ‘fiery law’, or was it ‘Asherah’? However, it appears that the Greek Septuagint preserves some additional references to Asherah which are surprisingly positive. In some of the places examined Asherah can confidently be assumed to be underneath the Greek word for ‘grove’ (the traditional rendering of ‘Asherah’). Additionally, there are places where Asherah does not occur but the Greek translation gives us evidence that the word Asherah was there originally. Finally, two ‘goddess passages’ (Ezekiel 8 and Jeremiah 44) are shown to have significantly different emphases regarding Asherah when read in the Greek or other ancient translations. ¹

The story of (H)Anna is a brief description of a faithful prophetess (Lk. 2.36–38) which is consciously paired with the previous and more developed narrative of Simeon (22–35). Hannah’s story is significant to the Lukan Gospel and yet her voice, which men and women visiting the temple heard repeatedly (2.38), is not articulated by Luke. She has been the topic of much research, in as much as three verses in their context can provide, while no one has sought to let Hannah speak for herself. This article aims to do this by exploring her story within the Lukan narrative, considering prophetesses in the Old Testament, and echoing the dynamics of the Jewish story of Judith with which she is intertextually paired.

This article examines the role of Prophecy and divination in the success of the Lumpa Church of Alice Mulenga Lenshina in Zambia. Concurring with James Amanze (2013), the article argues that the rapid growth of Christianity in Africa is to a large extent due to its engagement with prophecy and divination. Strong growth in African Christianity takes place mainly in the African Initiated Churches (AICs) which are Pentecostal-charismatic in their outlook. In these Churches the emphasis is on the prophetic ministry of the Church, evident in the performance of divination, healing and in predictions of the future. A good example is the Lumpa Church of Lenshina. Taking this Church as a case study, the article argues that Lenshina’s success and that of her Church are based on the fact that divination, prophecy and a search for gender justice were taken seriously.

Narratives of discrimination due to gender differentiations, educational background, cultural systems and/or political alignments are not new phenomena in human history. The concepts themselves are as old as the applications within the systems. In order to grasp the cruciality of the tendency, this article discusses the realities of discrimination among the people of northern Malawi using the Dalit experiences in India. Its emphasis is on how the Northerners of Malawi are politically and socio-economically sidelined in the entire system of governance. The article draws the conclusion that theology can in some ways help to minimize the situation when tolerance and accommodation in God’s design can be put into practice in order to promote harmony and togetherness. If this can be enhanced, the ignored North can feel part of Malawi and by doing so, they can reconstruct their lost humanity and dignity.

This article explores the potential applications of feminist pedagogy to the lived experience of weekly preaching from the perspective of a young, white, cis female, heterosexual faith community leader. When privilege is both obvious (whiteness, heterosexual, cis gender, middle class), but authority is simultaneously presumed and challenged based on historical constructs of theological role and presentation of gender, the act of preaching becomes a site of resistance. This article then discusses the act of homiletics – the art of interpretive storytelling, history teaching, persuasive speech, and spiritual performance – as informed by a feminist perspective. Does the pulpit present a bridge or barrier where gender is concerned? The physical act of preaching can represent an in-moment incarnating of a role, a historical step in a long-flowing river, and a psychological break point of self-erasure. This article posits that a thoughtful application of feminist pedagogy might dismantle these unspoken rules of the trade and create an opportunity for preaching as an act of resistance.